ELEANOR HALL: The Essendon Football Club is applying for an injunction to stop the anti-doping authority ASADA's investigation into the club and its players.

ASADA has given players an extension of time to reply to the show cause notices it served on them, but the club's lawyers say that isn't enough.

As Samantha Donovan reports.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: ASADA and the Essendon Football Club will face each other in the Federal Court this Friday for the first hearing of the club's challenge to the legality of the authority's investigation.

Thirty-four players from Essendon's 2012 list have been given until the 11th of July to respond to the show cause notices ASADA served on them 10 days ago.

That's an extension of a couple of weeks on the players' original deadline.

But the club's lawyer Josh Bornstein says it's pointless for ASADA to pursue the show cause process at all until the court decides if the investigation is legal.

JOSH BORNSTEIN: Well, if the investigation and show cause process continues unabated, there's a prospect that disciplinary action could be taken by ASADA and also the panel that determines penalty in cases such as these, and that would defeat the whole purpose of the Federal Court application that Essendon has bought, which is designed to determine whether ASADA has acted unlawfully in the current investigation. There would be no point in proceeding with that case if it was all over red rover.

So the club has applied for an injunction in the Federal Court this morning.

JOSH BORNSTEIN: We have written to ASADA on no fewer than three occasions now requesting two things. One that ASADA agree with Essendon that the matter of the legality of investigation be heard and determined by the Federal Court as quickly as possible. Secondly, we said pending a quick hearing of the legal challenge, we've asked ASADA to give undertakings to cease the current investigation and show cause process impacting on players at the Essendon Football Club.

Despite three attempts through correspondence to ASADA's lawyers to get a commitment from them to do that, ASADA has not come forth with an undertaking which ceases the investigation.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Essendon's challenge to the ASADA investigation may take months to resolve.

Josh Bornstein says it's regrettable that the club has had to apply for an injunction.

JOSH BORNSTEIN: I'm disappointed that we've had to take the step that we have today of lodging an application for an injunction but the hearing of that injunction will hopefully occur this Friday and we should get an answer from the court about the injunction on that day.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: In an unusual move, Federal Court Judge John Middleton is allowing this Friday's directions hearing to be shown on television.